Creating an Inbound Custom Allow Rule

2. Select Inbound Rules in the left pane and click New Rule under Inbound Rules in the Actions Pane

3. The New Inbound Rule Wizard will launch. Select Custom and click Next.

4. This screen is to determine if this rule applies to all programs or a specific program. If it is for all programs select that option or if this rule is to apply to a specific program then you will need to click the "This program path:" radio button and then browse to the specific program (image 4a). If the rule applies to a specific service click the customize button next to services and select the service from the Customize Service Settings window. You options are to apply to all programs and servers, services only, a specific service or apply to a service by the shortname (image 4b). Click next to continue.

4a.

4b.

5. This page will allow you to select a protocol, a local port, a remote port and if you select ICMP you can customize the settings for ICMP as well. After setting all the options in this section click Next to continue.

Select a protocol from the drop down list here.

Select the Local Port from the drop down list here

Select the remote port from the drop down list here

If you selected ICMP under the protocol list you will be able to further define the settings here after clicking on the Customize button.

6. On this screen you will be able to set the scope of the rule by applying it to all IP addresses or just selected LOcal or Remote addresses. You can also customize which interface the local IP addresses pertain to. Click Next to continue.

7. Since this is for an allow rule you will need to select weather to allow this traffic for all connections (secure and insecure) or only if the connection is secure. If you require the connection to be secure you can also specify if it also requires Encryption or if it overrides block rules. Click Next to continue.

8. On this screen you can select which profiles the rule applies to. Domain applies when the inbound connection is coming from a computer within the domain. Private applies when the inbound connection is coming from a source that has selected Private for it's profile. Public applies to all connections coming from a source whose profile is set to Public. You can select one, two or all three. Click Next to continue.

9. This is the screen were you will give the rule a name and any description you would like to specify. Click Finish to create the rule and go back to the main screen.